Re: [OT] Beanstalk anyone?

On 28-Mar-02 at 09:37, Popeyesays@aol.com (Popeyesays@aol.com) wrote:
> In a message dated 3/28/02 8:26:53 AM Central Standard Time, 
> bbilderback@hotmail.com writes:
> 
> 
> > Someone else mentioned this one.  Dounds like a very good story. 
But my 
> > curiosity was not about dropping a beanstalk, it was about letting
one go
> >  from the bottom - the opposite effect.
> > 
> > 
> 
> A beanstal top would be geo-stationary, would it not. It would not
have
> much	angular momentum and would at most drift away and be recoverable
for
> some	time. The 2300 AD universe has a beanstalk detached during a
planetary
>  assault - to keep it from being dropped upon the planet (Kafer war
scenario
>  pack).

The discussions I have seen on been stalks go something like this.

1.  Put a satellite in geo-stationary orbit.
2.  Simultaneously extend a fiber down and a fiber up.
3.  Anchor the down fiber to the ground.
4.  Extend the up fiber a bit more and put weight on it.

The trick is the whole system only stays in its' current orbit
because it is anchored.  When you cut it free it is going to 
fly off into space.